@1DUpdatesHC @the1Dscene @1DupdatesUSA niall on the cover of the Irish independent magazine :)
Today is March 1st. That means St. Patrick’s Day will be here soon! Just like last year, I aim to post one Irish-y, St. Patrick’s Day recipe each day up to March 17th. Wish me the luck …
February is the month of love, and what a fantastic thing to celebrate. Whether it's in the form of a box of chocolates, flowers, a well-written love note, or a simple kiss 'n cuddle, we all could use a good dose of love.
An expression only an Irish Setter can do... Hit by a sunbeam....
The Comfort Quilt by Becky Brown Woven comforters warmed many patients The Comfort Quilt pattern, given that name in the Kansas City Star in 1940, has two meanings. The patchwork looks like a geometric woven comforter pattern---bedcoverings were often called comforts in the 19th century. The design can also serve to remember Dorothea Dix and the Civil War nurses on both sides who comforted the wounded and ill. Dorothea Dix From the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian Institution On April 22, 1861 the Union Secretary of War accepted social reformer Dorothea Dix's offer to organize an "Office of Women Nurses." Despite disapproval from female society and from male doctors who believed women did not belong in hospitals, Dix recruited thousands. Women answered her call for nurses who were "sober, earnest, self-sacrificing, self-sustained, calm, gentle, quite active and steadfast and willing to take and to execute the directions of the surgeons." A nurse and her patients take the air in Fredericksburg in 1864 Dix's reputation has suffered from the backlash of ridicule that often results from a woman's assuming a position of power. Diarist George Templeton Strong described her as a "philanthropic lunatic," and journalist Jane Swisshelm called her "a self sealing can of horror tied up with red tape." Dix devoted her life to reform, first in the care of the mentally ill and then with Army hospitals Even those who respected her agreed she could be dictatorial and demanding. As nurse Georgeanna Woolsey put it, "We have had an encounter with Miss Dix, that is rather the way to express it. Splendid as her career has been, she would succeed better with more graciousness of manner." A field hospital with a nurse second from right. She has been identified as Cornelia Hancock. Don't tell Miss Dix about that hoopskirt. Dix's Plan for Nurses outlined the rules: "No women under thirty need apply to serve in government hospitals. All nurses are required to be plain-looking women. Their dresses must be brown or black with no bows, no curls, no jewelry and no hoop skirts." Charlotte Wilson in New York soon heard of the nurse recruitment: "I went this morning to the Cooper Institute to see the operation of an admirably organized society for the relief and aid of the sick and wounded soldiers. This society is in communication with Miss Dolly Dix who informs them of the wants of the Washington Hospital….There is an organized body of Nurses, being trained here in the Hospital. One of the first questions asked a woman who is ambitious to become a Nurse is whether she is over thirty. None under that age are accepted. It is wonderful how many find it impossible to confess they are over thirty." We smile today with Charlotte at all the obstacles put in the way of the women who wanted to help. In this first month of the proposed 30-day war, no one had any idea what lay ahead in the hospitals. Cutting an 8" Finished Block. Scraps of indigo blue prints would add to the look of a woven coverlet. The pattern is BlockBase #2031 A- Cut 8 blue squares 2-1/4" B- Cut 4 light rectangles 2-1/4" x 5". C- Cut 4 light rectangles 2-1/4" x 1-1/2" D- Cut 1 blue square 1-1/2" C- Cut 4 light rectangles 2-1/4" Read more about the role of nurses in Chapter 5 of my book Civil War Women. Click here for more information: http://www.ctpub.com/productdetails.cfm?PC=1857 Several nurses published their memoirs and diaries in the 19th century. Read Louisa May Alcott's Hospital Sketches at Google Books by clicking here: http://books.google.com/books?id=BBwfa8n5Uh4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=louisa+alcott&hl=en&ei=cNI5TcyMFoGClAfi0_T2Bg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false And Georgeanna Woolsey's Hospital Days by clicking here: http://books.google.com/books?id=tfl381mVbzYC&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22hospital+days%22&hl=en&ei=RNM5TbW8IIKKlwehttzpBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false Here's a block from our Flickr group by A.E.A. Quilts And one by Ellen from American Homestead
“May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light, May good luck pursue you each morning and night.” - Irish Blessing - Today we are all Irish! Enjoy the day, everyone. What does Maxine have to say? Oh, Maxine...
To celebrate the 60th Anniversary of Singing in the Rain, a special one night showing will be available at select movie theaters across the country on July 12. I'll be going with my daughters, Mom, Aunt and nieces to see this wonderful old movie in a theater. The girls and I have watched it many times on tv, but are looking forward to seeing it on the big screen. Here is the link to find a theater showing the wonderful old classic We'll be singing and dancing in the raining!
@ the o2, dublin. if using, please credit me @rachabeth on twitter AND link back if using on tumblr/facebook. thanks! x
I meant to post this the other day, but just plain forgot. On a general note, my impulsive St. Patrick's Day lawn decorating was a success. The neighborhood reaction (that I saw) brought many smiles. Several passersby made it a photo-op with their kids. My hope to bring a bit of that Halloween and Christmas decorating magic that makes myths real worked. Bring on the Easter Bunny. I wish there was a nationally recognized Giant Squid Day! But I digress. Here's how I made the Leprechaun door. Know that I knocked it out pretty fast using what materials I had at hand, so there's lots of room for improvement. The door was cut out of foamcore board. Then scored vertically (where the seams of the wood planks might be), so It could be bent matching the tree trunk curve. Next it was coated with brown tinted "monster mud" (left over from my yarn bombing tree project). I used a stick to create wood grain and softened the hard lines a bit by going back over with a paint brush. Once it set up, I painted on a thin coat of green. While still wet I lightly dragged a rag over pulling off paint from the high points, revealing some brown underneath, creating a weathered feel. The shamrock window frame and hinge plate hardware were cut out of 1/4" thick craft foam. The hinges themselves were pieces of cardboard tube found on dry cleaner wire hangers. The tips were glued on wood plugs. I also used larger wood plugs for the rivets on the hinge plates. The door handle was made with Model Magic. A tape roll was used as a jig to wrap the clay around to create a decent circle. I painted all the hardware with gold spray paint, then pounced on a coat of thinned black acrylic to age and weather them. I glued a sheet of black card stock behind the shamrock window and sprayed with a clear gloss coat to help give a feeling that it's actually glass. In retrospect, I should of used a sheet of clear acetate first, then the black paper. Oh well, next time. Once all the pieces were dry, they were glued together. I looped two lengths of bailing wire through both sides off the door, and tied around the tree trunk to hold in place.
Owners and friends Alicia Copping and Natasha White, both aged 28, of Allesley, were by her side every second of the way.
Coveted for their hunting prowess, the Irish Wolfhound was, by law, originally only permitted to be owned by kings, nobles and poets. He hunted wolves, wild boar and the gigantic Irish elk. As you might imagine, this necessitated great courage, size, strength and stamina - all qualities the Wolfhound has in great abundance. Today the
